A variety of different systems for sterilizing or decontaminating materials. For example, some industries must maintain equipment used in the production or packaging facilities at relatively low levels of decontamination to avoid contamination of the products by microbial agents and the like. One prime example of such an industry is the pharmaceutical industry, which must routinely fill containers in a decontaminated environment with decontaminated equipment to avoid introducing any microbial agents into the pharmaceutical products being packaged.
There are a number of accepted sterilizing agents used in these operations. One sterilant which has been found to work well is a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and some other element, such as saturated steam. Such hydrogen peroxide sterilants are usually applied in a gaseous form (e.g mixed with saturated steam) in an enclosed environment.
It may be desirable to test the nature of the sterilant at some point or points during or after the sterilization procedure to ensure that the sterilant is effective. In the case of a peroxide-containing sterilant, it may be desirable to measure the concentration of the peroxide in the mixture used as the sterilizing agent. However, it has proven difficult to reliably and cheaply check hydrogen peroxide concentration of a sterilant in a commercial setting. Although mass spectroscopy can be used to detect the presence and concentration of hydrogen peroxide, it is generally too expensive to dedicate a mass spectrometer to a specific decontamination station. To date, there does not appear to be a satisfactory method of quickly, reliably and cheaply checking hydrogen peroxide concentration in a sterilant in a commercial production setting.